Hold Congress Accountable

Knowledge is power. It makes sure people understand what is happening to their country, and how they can make a difference. FreedomWorks University will give you the tools to understand economics, the workings of government, the history of the American legal system, and the most important debates facing our nation today. Enroll in FreedomWorks University today!

Search FreedomWorks

Resources

Press Release

CSE Urges Locke to Complete the Call…

Strannigan Offers to put Governor in Contact with Gore to End Microsoft Suit

SEATTLE—Since Gov. Locke's call to Vice President Gore did not reach the Vice President on John Carlson's mobile phone during last night’s debate, Gary Strannigan, director of Washington Citizens for a Sound Economy offered today to help put the governor in touch with Gore to end to government's lawsuit against the Washington software developer.

“This lawsuit was brought on the contrived pretext of consumer harm,” said Strannigan. “Since the cost of Microsoft products have steadily decreased, and the quality has steadily increased, the Justice Department and the Attorneys General will be hard-pressed to make their case. Governor, it is time, at long last, to personally make the call. Tell the Vice-President to withdraw the case. Washington’s consumers, shareholders, and pension plan members deserve no less.”

Citizens for a Sound Economy adamantly maintains that a structural breakup of Microsoft would be disastrous, and CSE’s activists have proven effective in the battle against government regulation of the software market.

Washington CSE, a grassroots organization, and its 14,000 members have long advocated that the lawsuit against Microsoft should be dropped and that the break-up plan put forth by the Clinton-Gore Justice Department would harm consumers and investors.

Taxpayers so far have spent $35 million prosecuting the antitrust case. This year's ruling against Microsoft cost them even more when it negatively impacted the entire NASDAQ market and caused a $1.7 trillion loss in value. Eighty million Microsoft shareholders nationwide were hurt when market value dropped.

Some citizens of Washington, who comprise about 40 percent of Microsoft's shareholders, bore the brunt of it with a loss of more than $70 billion in stock value. Particularly hard-hit are retirees who don't have time to wait out the market while their monthly expenses continue to add up.

State pension systems, which invest in the stock market to fund retirement programs, have also suffered. In the nineteen states where attorneys general are pursuing the lawsuit, the value of state pension systems for retirees dropped nearly $40 billion after the ruling was made.

More information about the DOJ case against Microsoft, contact CSE or go to: http://www.cse.org/informed/e_comm.html